The Japanese Peruvian Deportation to the U.S Internment Camps
Kaleb Knop (History, Class of 2027)
Project Description
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Peruvian government began working with the United States government on allowing Peru to send its Japanese immigrants to U.S. Internment Camps. In 1942, the Peruvian government began deporting them to the United States, deporting over 1800 Japanese immigrants from 1942 through the end of World War II. Though this was the result of the Japanese Peruvian deportation to the camps, the events that led up to their internment are the basis of my research. Before the Japanese Peruvians’ deportation, years of violence and discrimination were brought upon by the Peruvian population starting in the late 1920s after the stock market crash in 1929. Throughout the years leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese families rose from working in the harsh sugar and cotton plantations of Peru to developing their own communities and economic businesses. With the Japanese’s success, the Peruvian people experienced financial distress and targeted them as a result of their distress. The catalyst for this distress was the May 1940 “Saqueo” riots in Lima, Peru. This riot resulted in two days of the Peruvian people damaging Japanese businesses and homes, leaving Japanese firms and families in despair. It was clear that these riots were a clear catalyst for the Peruvian government deporting their Japanese Immigrants to the United States Internment Camps.